The manufacturing industry will continue stepping toward higher automation. The importance of machine vision is surging with the market having tremendous potential,” says Joseph Tsuo, the CEO of Utechzone. As Asia-Pacific is becoming the main manufacturing base for the whole world, Utechzone with its strategic position in the market empowers various industries including printed circuit boards (PCB), LCD, and semiconductor manufacturers. Since 1992, under the guidance of Tsuo, the firm has emerged as the leading automatic optical inspection (AOI)/ automated vision inspection (AVI) systems manufacturer in Taiwan. To substantiate the statement, Tsuo cites an example of the first IC substrate AOI system made in Taiwan. The system has been widely sold to cover more than 90 percent of IC substrate manufacturers worldwide, which proves that Utechzone is not just a leader in Taiwan, but a company that steers ahead of its peers on a global scale.

Powered by a high-resolution charge-coupled device (CCD), multiple optic modules, precise mechanisms, complex electrical controls, and sophisticated algorithms, Utechzone’s AOIs/AVIs leverage machine vision to detect product defects and reduce the limitations of legacy optical instruments. Here, CCD captures images of inspection targets under specific lighting structures and subsequently, algorithms help determine defects. Further, Utechzone’s in-house R&D center in Taiwan ensures optimal quality in the manufacturing of every product. Tsuo mentions that aging human inspection practices are steadily becoming inefficient as it increases fatigue among personnel. With AOI/AVI, the company brings forth a data-driven approach to identify defects and further segregates them into different categories using Artificial Intelligence to supplement the product quality.

However, initially, Utechzone focused only on the printed circuit board manufacturing such as IC substrate, HDI, flip chip, flex PCB, and so on. After years of hard work, Utechzone not only keeps the highest market share for IC substrate manufacturers but continues to widen coverage to provide solutions for flip chip, HDI, and flex PCB manufacturers.

Utechzone has emerged as the leading automatic optical inspection (AOI)/automated vision inspection (AVI) manufacturer in Taiwan

With success garnered in PCB AOI/AVI, Utechzone applied its expertise in flat-panel display (FPD) inspection. As the majority of FPD manufacturers are based in China, Utechzone established more than 20 customer service centers in Mainland China to cater to the problems of all its consumers. With the rate of development of next-generation panel sizes, Utechzone is consistently upgrading its technology and algorithms to bring state-of-the-art developments in the sphere. It also offers customized solutions according to unique requirements of manufacturing components including OLED, AMOLED, LTPS, and IGZO.

Utechzone now also possess the highest market share for LCD CF/Cell AOI and LCD API in the Greater China area. In 2018, Utechzone extended to chip on film (COF) and semiconductor inspection, aiming to provide a total solution and become the AOI/AVI systems manufacturer with the greatest coverage to balance industrial fluctuations.

“Our AOI replaces the brain, eyes, and arms, enabling human beings to experience high precision at a reasonable cost,” says Tsuo in concluding the definition of AOI. Having started with just four personnel, the firm now employs more than 400 employees with revenue expanding to NTD 3,115,762 in thousands in the fiscal year 2018. To keep up with the growth in the future, Utechzone has agents or affiliated companies in Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore to diversify its footprint from Taiwan and emerge as a market leader in Asia-Pacific.